Sand sealing shoe



April 30, 1957 REINTJES 2,790,402

SAND SEALING SHOE Filed Nov. 30, 1953 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR eorqe R t) BY April 30, 1957 G. P. REINTJES SAND SEALING SHOE 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Nov. 30, 1953 INi ENTOR. Geofc e P. Refit) Unite States Patent SAND SEALING SHGE George P. Reintjes, Kansas City, Mo.

Application November 30, 1953, Serial No. 395,034 1 (Ilaim. (Cl. 110-473) This invention relates to soaking pit covers and the like and has for its general object to produce a cover for furnaces which are open at their upper end and are formed with a sand or granular material receiving coping. Pit covers of this type must be portable and are lifted on and off the furnace as needed, the cover having 21 depending shoe which is received within the sand in the coping, said shoe carrying the entire weight or load of the cover when it is resting in the coping. The sand seal, therefore, must be strong and heat resistant and must protect the structural parts of the furnace from direct heat radiation or impingement of flame.

in the past difficulties have been encountered in providing a sealing shoe which will carry the load of the cover and stand up against the high temperatures and shock and jar incident to handling of the cover, and still insure a perfect seal around the periphery of the cover. The prime object of the present invention is to provide a seal of inverted V-form so made that the sand is gathered or molded and caused to elevate itself within the V and be tightly compressed against both flanges of the seal. With this arrangement the sand at high points in the coping is actually forced :to flow longitudinally and even out the low points.

Another object of the invention is to provide a construction of this general nature in which the sealing shoe essentially comprises upper and lower flanges, the upper flange protecting the structural parts from direct heat radiation and flange impingement as the cover is moved to and from position and the lower flange being of bifurcated or V-form to provide the sand seal when the cover is on the coping. In one embodiment as will hereinafter appear the upper and lower flanges are connected by a serpentine flange to uniformly distribute the load and to provide offsets accommodating the securing bolts.

Another object of the invention is to provide a construction of the general nature mentioned in which the shoes are preferably formed at their opposite ends with male and female interlocking elements so that when the seals are placed in end to end abutment around the periphery of the cover, the space between the members will be closed while still maintaining a degree of longitudinal adjustment.

A further object of the invention is to provide a construction in which the sealing shoes are formed with vertical webs at their outer edges for distribution of load and to form pockets for the reception of chrome ore or the like for insulating purposes. These webs may carry rods or pin, hereinafter described, to assist in holding the chrome ore in place.

With the general o'ojects named in view and others as will hereinafter appear, the invention consists in certain new and useful features of construction and combination of parts as hereinafter described and claimed; and in order that it may be fully understood, reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure l is a fragmental section through a pit cover embodying the invention.

2,790,402 Patented Apr. 30, 1957 ice Figure 2 is an enlarged exploded perspective 'view of the sealing shoe as it may be used in combination with a filling casting, the vertical height of the filling casting being subject to variation depending upon the overall thickness of the refractory roofer projection below the plane of the cover frame.

Figure 3 is a vertical section through the sealing shoe on the line lit-Alli of Figure 4, to show the load-bearing inverted-V-webs forming the sand molding shoe.

Figure 4 is a horizontal section through the shoe, taken on the line IVIV of Figure 3 and illustrating the serpentine web connecting the upper and'lower flanges of the shoe.

Figure 5 is a view similar to Figure '3, illustrating the application of a suspension bolt through theapex of the V, the overall height being foreshortened to eliminate the serpentine web.

Figure 6 is a view of another modified construction particularly adapted for use with a slab type pit cover frame.

In the said drawings, where like reference characters identify corresponding parts in all of the figures, 1, represents the metal frame of a pit cover, which may be provided with cross beams 2. In the type of cover shown, the cross beams 2 provided suspension means for a series of pipe 3 which carry hangers 4 from which the refractory roof or closure 4 is suspended.

In the preferred construction the refractory 5 depend below the plane of the underside of the frame 1 and form a protection for a spacing or filling casting 6 which may be of relatively low heat resisting alloy as it is never directly exposed to the high temperature of the pit. By preference the filler or spacer casting is formed at its opposite ends with male and female interlocking flanges 7 and 3, see Figure 2, which provide a closed margin against heat losses which might otherwise occur if the joints are open.

The filler casting is preferably of hollow box form with one side wall omitted to give external access to bolt holes 9 which normally receive bolts depending from the frame 1, as well as giving access to slots 10 in the lower wall of the casting, said slots adjustably receiving the seal supporting bolts.

The sealing shoe 11 is preferably made of high temperature alloy and is of rectangular box shape. The ends of the shoe have male and female interlocking flanges 12 and 13 which project from transverse end webs 12a extending down from the upper flange to certain downwardly diverging flanges hereinafter described. The male and female flanges l2 and 13 interlock with their companion flanges of adjacent shoes so that when placed in end to end abutment around the periphery of the frame 1, some degree of longitudinal adjustment is provided without opening up the joints. The underside of the shoe is formed with a load-bearing, sand molding and gathering flange, comprising outwardly diverging flanges 14 which will compress the sand and cause its rise within the V to press tightly against both of the webs. The apex of the inverted V preferably terminates in a flat intermediate web ll4a which is connected by a longitudinally extending vertical serpentine web, which is not as thick as the width of the web 14a, 16 to the underside of the upper horizontal flange of the casting. It will also be noted that the serpentine web 16 crosses back and forth over the web 14a and provides external pockets 17. Opening into the pockets 17 are bolt openings 18 for securing the device to the underside of the pit frame. It will be noted that, if desired the base of the webs 14 may also be provided with an opening in line with the opening 18 so that the head of the securing bolt may be housed within the V-joint, see Figure 5.

In the constructions shown in Figures 5 and 6, the

upper flanges corresponding to the flange 11 of the other figures, are respectively numbered 21 and 22. The flange 21 is horizontal for detachable engagement with the horizontal surface of the underside of a pit cover frame or the like, while the flange 22 is particularly adapted for detachable engagement with the vertical face of a slap type pit cover frame. In Figure 5 the webs of the lower flange are reinforced by ribs 23, and in Figure 6, the web is reinforced by a rib 24.

In order to further distribute the load and insure the casting against warpage, vertical webs 19, Figures 4 and 3, connect the upper and lower flanges lit and 14 respectively. These webs may be formed with horizontal alined openings to receive rods 20 which provide anchors to assist in holding high temperature cement within the pockets formed by the webs. In this connection it is to be noted that the arrangement is such that the rods can be inserted only from one end of the sealing shoes. This arrangement obviates the danger of a rod bridging the joint between a pair of castings and interfering with the removal or replacement of a damaged casting without a tear-down of the roof or a long length of shoe.

From the above description and drawings it will be apparent that I have produced a construction embodying all of the features of advantage set forth as desirable,

and while I have described and illustrated the preferred embodiment, it is to be understood that I reserve the right to all changes within the spirit and scope of the appended claim.

I claim:

A sand sealing shoe comprising a fiat upper flange of elongated form and narrow width, a pair of sand sealing flanges, each having its opposite faces in downwardly diverging relation to the flat upper flange to form inclined plane sand displacing surfaces on both the outer and inner faces of the sand sealing shoe, the under face of the flat upper flange overhanging the diverging flanges, and a series of ribs extending from the overhanging portion of the flat flange and united with the upper surfaces of the diverging flanges.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS l,126,080 Quigley Jan. 26, 1915 2,091,224 Brinckerhofi Aug. 24, 1937 2,444,736 Hazen July 6, 1943 2,539,421 Higgens Ian. 30, 1951 2,645,211 Braun July 14, 1953 

